Daydreams Critical Analysis by Daniel Miltinan

Daydream is the name of the major group project for our Studio 3 class. This idea was required to challenge or involved a certain cultural aspect of Australian society. We Questioned the importance of Australian cultural relevance during our idea generation. It was brought to our attention that applying for government funding or grants is easier to do if the project incorporates our country in some way. In simpler terms, the government prefers to fund something relevant.

We started brainstorming various ideologies, problems and milestones in our current society. After weeks of discussion we were steering towards really deep and dark topics. We thought it was best to pitch individual ideas and use the coloured hats to talk about concerns, positives, ‘what ifs’ for the project regarding each idea. Narrowing it down we came to a vote. Funnily enough it was myself with the deciding vote. So we ended up choosing Steve’s ‘Daydream’ idea. Onward we developed it further.

We start off the film in a 2d dull and drab world. 2d animation is a huge decision to make right off the bat. Most of the class is isn’t very familiar with 2d animation, but we were up for the challenge regardless. Having a flat world gives the illusion of minimal direction. Left right up and down. The character in this sequence is an old man. His clothing isn’t particularly fancy. He doesn’t look happy or sad. It probably important to note that this film is meant to be interpreted differently among viewers. Not to say that we aren’t guiding you through the viewing. Anyway, we feel the drab colour scheme only goes hand in hand with the blocky 2d imagery. The world the train travels through will be very industrial. We feel like this depicts a concrete jungle. No vegetation or greenery.

Suppressed by a dull life of an industrial society. We are trying to incorporate an Australian metro train into the film. Perhaps not an exact replica, but heavily leaning towards the metro feel. THe character will be sitting alone on the train. The shot we have is very wide showing all of the empty seats around him. Old, lonely and dull. Dare i say meaningless life? It certainly doesn’t look pleasant but no doubt it’s a good life for some people. As the train proceeds to travel, the old man stars outside the window. The overlapping power lines grab his attention. They weave as if they are dancing. The shot gradually turns the weaving power lines into bright characters. It is as this point in the film where we transition from 2d to 3d. Adding another dimension to this world. This is the beginning of what we are calling ‘The dream sequence’. The intertwining power lines each become their own character emitting a trail of light behind them. They corkscrew up in the air like they’re dancing. These two characters are meant to look similar to each other, but not the same. They will have slight differences to their body shapes but not gender defying features. The gender neutral aspect of this is to help the viewer stay away from typical male female relations or heterosexuality in general. We do not wish gender to take away from the abstract nature or the dream. People may see these two characters as in love or destined to be together, which is fine. Everyone will relate to these characters in a way of their own. The same goes for the way we will be colouring them. We are choosing colours that aren’t depicted as gender based in our current society’s ideologies. I think a light yellow and blue are going to be used, but isn’t yet set in concrete.

After they descend from the corkscrew they will lower to the surface of water. This large body of water looks infinite as it merges seamlessly with the starry night sky background. We are still on the fence about whether or not we want this to be more surreal or abstract. So far it feels very surreal. But we also think that it’s easier to piece together a story from surreal imagery as opposed to abstract imagery. We are trying to let people decide for themselves what this production means to them. So keeping the film more on the abstract side is crucial. Its also worth mentioning the darkness of the dream sequence. Although this is meant to be a daydream, the deep black backgrounds suggest more of a sleeping dream. When people read the title of the film ‘Daydream’ they can hopefully make the connection as to why the world transitions to abstract events. We feel the dark backgrounds give us an awesome opportunity to play around with light emission. Having bright vibrant colours as well as dynamic lighting will be a large payoff for the compensation in static backdrops.

We don’t have any dialogue in the film. We hope to capitilise on this with the use of somber soundtracks and hopefully good atmos. Using string instruments to create a mystical sounding scores will only add to the hypnotic dances and interactions from our characters. The dream sequence comes to an end by spiraling back into and yet again seamlessly back into the original power lines. At this point we have converted back into the 2d drab world. The old man reacts with a soft smile as the screen fades to black.

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